The present invention relates to a bone anchoring element.
A known form of a bone anchoring element is a bone screw comprising a shaft with a thread for screwing the screw into a bone. The bone screw is manually inserted into the bone by means of a screw driver, which is a time-consuming and force-requiring process. Moreover, during the process in which the screw is inserted into the bone, high pressure forces may be acting on the bone itself, which is undesirable in some cases. For this reason, manually inserted bone screws are not used for certain clinical applications in neurosurgery, spinal surgery, pediatric surgery or trauma surgery.
It is therefore desirable to provide a bone anchoring element, which can be inserted into the bone more rapidly, more easily, and with less force than conventional bone screws. It is also desirable to provide a bone anchoring element that is versatile and useful in many clinical requirements. Preferably the bone anchoring element does not exert damaging forces on the bone, provides for secure attachment, and yet still can be inserted more deeply than conventional bone screws and/or removed in a screw-like fashion.
EP 0 714 643 A1 discloses a bone fixation device such as a screw, pin, staple, cable or anchor which has a micro-textured contact surface to enhance installation or gripping characteristics of the device. The micro-textured contact surface includes for example, angled rasp teeth, which bite or flex to resist movement in one direction and yet flex or slide to allow a relatively easy contact movement in the other direction. DE 198 01 219 A1 discloses a bone nail having rigid barb-like projections being arranged in circumferential rows around the nail.